Annette Sharp: Top legal eagle Judge Peter Zahra’s kindness remembered at funeral

One of the country’s finest legal minds, Judge Peter Zahra has also been remembered for saving broken toys and unwanted plants ‘to give them an opportunity’, writes Annette Sharp.

Having observed him from the gallery of the District Court on his last sitting day in the trial involving pop star Guy Sebastian, this writer felt the profound sadness of the District Court two weeks ago when the news arrived, mid-trial, that Judge Peter Zahra had suffered a stroke and died.

At his requiem mass funeral at St Mary’s Cathedral on Friday Judge Zahra was remembered as “a giant of criminal law, a leader, an educator … a teller of bad dad jokes” who was “an essential presence in the Downing Centre” because he was “so sound”.

The judicial system “can’t afford to lose him — he is the best criminal lawyer we have”, Judge Leonie Flannery said, opening the eulogies and recalling the recent words of a colleague.

Beginning his career in 1981 as a Legal Aid lawyer, Judge Zahra handled “a punishing workload single-handedly” at Blacktown Local Court before being headhunted to the first Director of Public Prosecutions office as a Crown Prosecutor in 1988.

In 1989 he moved to the Public Defenders Office, then to the District Court in 1997 and, after taking silk in 2000, was elevated up the ranks where he was known for handling the most difficult cases — some high-profile, others just “hard slogs”.

Fondly remembered … District Court Judge Peter Zahra.

Standing next to his humbly dressed casket, which bore a simple white cloth atop which sat two aged tin wind-up toys, his three surviving adult children Frances, Dominic and Edward painted a picture of a man who bought broken toys at Christmas time “because he couldn’t stand them not having a home to go to”, and transplanted plants he found growing in cracks in walls “to give them an opportunity”.

Judge Zahra is survived by wife Shelley, who he wooed by leaving love notes on the back of evidence photos after meeting her at the Blacktown Court of Petty Sessions where she worked, three children and a proud, though heartbroken, Maltese-Australian family.

‘FAIR, HONEST AND COMPASSIONATE’

A who’s who of the state’s judiciary have turned out to farewell legal giant Peter Zahra SC in Sydney after his sudden death this month.

Described as a compassionate public defender who rose to the bench in meteoric fashion, it was Judge Zahra’s “warped sense of humour” friends and family remembered most.

Recalling how he once offered wind up frogs to staff at the Downing Centre for a race, one mourner said after news of his death they did just that on level three of the biggest court complex in Sydney last week.

About 200 mourners came out to St Mary’s Cathedral to pay their respects to one of the most revered judges in the nation in a sombre ceremony.

Led by a family member carrying a framed picture of Judge Zahra, his body was taken through the historic cathedral accompanied by his loved ones and draped in a white cloth for a traditional catholic ceremony.

He was described as a “family man” and a “fair, honest and compassionate judge”.

Mourners came to St Mary’s Cathedral to pay their respects. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

Judge Zahra presided over some of the most notorious criminal cases in his time on the bench but in his glittering career as a barrister his impact was unmatched.

During a trial in 2020 he told a journalist of his history working as a public defender and how he always found court reporters to be “respectable”.

He defended convicted child killer Kathleen Folbigg, made multiple changes to how the law operates in NSW and was even nominated for a bravery medal for tackling a prisoner who tried to flee the court.

That prisoner later asked Peter Zahra to be his lawyer and legal friends described their days in the cells with him as “the happiest time of my life”.

Folbigg this week learned she would get a second inquiry into her convictions after compelling medical evidence by dozens of scientists cast doubt on whether she killed her three children.

It was one of many major cases Judge Zahra had a hand in during his stellar legal career, including that of “bow and arrow butcher” Richard Leonard.

“I express the State’s gratitude not only for Judge Zahra’s work as a judge of the District Court, but his significant contribution and service to the law and legal profession over many decades,” NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman said when news of his death broke.

Judge Zahra was described as a “family man” and a “fair, honest and compassionate judge”. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

Judge Peter Zahra SC, when he was appointed.

Mourners were told of stories of the judge outside the court, including one incident when a heavily tattooed man recognised him in the street – not as a judge – but as a forklift driver at Flemington Markets.

Another story of how he told his children he was once a jedi apparently fell apart when he blamed his loss of “the force” on an unfortunate light sabre accident.

A son of Maltese migrants, Peter Zahra was jokingly described as “the tragedy” in his family’s native tongue when they learned they had to share their cramped Annandale home with another child.

His daughter Frances joked that her father wooed their mother Shelley with love notes on the back of crime scene photos at Blacktown court and always claimed “his look was big in Malta”.

Judge Zahra died after an illness while presiding over the case of Titus Day, singer Guy Sebastian’s agent who is facing fraud charges.

Mourners were told to leave with his motto in life, taken from a Dolly Parton quote.

“If you see someone without a smile give them one of yours.”

— by ANTON ROSE